Volunteering?

I've heard some folks in the permaculture world talking about how you "shouldn't" volunteer because most farmers don't want to train volunteers, and instead you should look for someone with the skills you want to learn and ask to apprentice with them. Curious to hear other people's thoughts on this...

I would say what you heard was just someones opinion.

I work and trained many volunteers for many years.

You get what you pay for.

look for someone with the skills you want to learn and ask to apprentice with them.

That is another way of volunteering ...

To take a simplistic approach, it suspect it is better to get paid than not. The reality is that everything depends on the specific farmer you are working for.   Just like every other group in the world, some are incredible nice and others are less so.